Friday, June 30

Your Perfect Movie Family?

I was watching To Kill A Mockingbird (again) last night, and it made me think of this potentially interesting idea:You have the ability to cherry-pick your ideal family: father, mother, brother, sister, etc. Only requirement is that they all come from the movies.So, who would be your ultimate movie family? You don't have to worry about whether the various choices would get along with each other. I will stipulate, however, that the person you choose must play that role in the film s/he is in. So, the father you pick must be a father in whatever film you choose a father from, the brother must be identified as someone's brother in whatever film you choose a brother from, etc. You do not have to be concerned about matching these people to your current age. You can choose a best friend, for instance, who is 3, 13 or 53.

I'm currently choosing my list, but I'll post this now to let anybody who wants to bother playing to do so. You don't have to complete them all, just any you want. If you want to supply the reasons for your choices, we'd all love to hear them.

I choose this person (name & film) as my:Husband: Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhall) in Brokeback Mountain, 'cause he was all about the lovin'.Wife: I'm a bigamist!!! Sue ( Lauren Graham) from Bad Santa, ‘cause she’s a bucket o’ fun.Father: Jefferson Smith (Jimmy Stewart) in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, 'cause, wow, talk about ideals and putting your money where your mouth is.Mother: Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) in The Exorcist, 'cause she could really stick it out as a parent, you know what I mean?Brother: Ash (Bruce Campbell) from Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn, ‘cause he’s funny and he takes a licking and keeps on ticking in this flick.Sister: Vivian Sternwood Rutledge (Lauren Bacall) in The Big Sleep, 'cause she'd be an innuendo-filled blast to have around, and she'd take care of whatever needs taking care of.Son: Peter Miller (Keith Gordon) from Dressed to Kill, ‘cause he’s smart and a good egg.Daughter: Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) in Lost in Translation, 'cause, well, she's a good person.Uncle: Roger O Thornhill (Cary Grant) in North By Northwest, 'cause he'd have exciting stories and great presents.Aunt: Barbara Morton (Patricia Hitchcock) in Strangers on a Train, 'cause she's matter of fact, and seems like the kind of person you could talk to anything about.Best Friend: Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) in Duck Soup, 'cause he's f-in' hilarious.First Love: Bad Boy Jeff (Jeff Stryker) in Powertool, 'cause, after that, you're ready for anything, I think.Boss: Howard Hughes (Leonardo di Caprio) in The Aviator, ‘cause Hughes was fascinating, kept out of the way after he started wearing Kleenex boxes for slippers, and I’d hope he’d leave his bundle to me after he kicked the bucket.Nemesis: Henry (Jack Nance) from “Eraserhead”, ‘cause his f-ed up psyche would keep him busy, and I’d almost never go to his part of town.Friend to be with me in a street fight: Lee (Bruce Lee) in Enter the Dragon, 'cause he'd freak the other guys out with his smooth moves.Mentor: Pee-Wee Herman (Paul Reubens) in Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, ‘cause that’s what livin’ is all about, brother and sisters.Business partner: Will Graham (Willem Petersen) from Manhunter, ‘cause he’s a stand-up guy, and then I’d be an FBI agent --- cool.Any other categories you’d like to add? Pet: Babe (Pig) from Babe, ‘cause he’s a good conversationalist and he’d crack me up when he sang Christmas carols.

I want to say I love my own family and don't ever wish for another... but for the purposes of entertainment and discussion.Husband: Adam Sandler in Spanglish. Why, Téa, why can't you just love him for who he is?!Wife: daves totally stole Laren Graham from Bad Santa... so if I couldn't convince her to leave him, I'd marry his daughter, Scarlett Johannsen from Lost in Translation.Father: Gregory Peck, To Kill a MockingbirdMother: Ruth Gordon, Harold and MaudeBrother: Donald Kaufman, Adapation*Sister: Joan Cusack, Broadcast NewsSon: Noah Wiley, Pirates of Silicon Valley... My son, Steve Jobs! Sounds plush.Daughter: Mariel Hemingway, Manhattan. She's got a good head on her shoulders.Uncle: Robert Duvall, as Gus McCrae in Lonesome Dove.Aunt: Angelica Huston in Prizzi's Honour.Best Friend: Kyle McLauchlin, Blue VelvetPet: Skip. From My Dog Skip... now I'm gonna cry.First Love: Laura Dern, Wild at Heart. 'nuff said.Boss: J. Jonah Jameson!... waitaminute he'd be the worst boss. So, Jake... Jack Nicolson in Chinatown.Nemesis: Ethan Hawke in Reality Bites... I HATE HIM SO MUCH!Friend to be with me in a street fight: Tommy Lee Jones, as Call in Lonesome Dove.Mentor: Duh, Gandalf the Grey. Not Gandalf the White, the Grey was more fun.Business partner: Richard E. Grant, How to Get ahead in Advertising. He'd do all the worrying for me.

Not enough time to play the shole game, but I'd definitely take Colm Meaney's Rabbitte pater familias from that trio of movies they made from the Roddy Doyle novels, The Commitments, The Snapper and The Van